MEDIA

Solution to SABC’s staffing slip-up

The results of an independent skills audit recently conducted at the SABC by PricewaterhouseCoopers revealed that almost two thirds (62%) of the public broadcaster’s employee files had qualifications that were either "not authentic" or "incomplete". The audit also exposed that a number of employees possessed qualifications which were not at all related to the positions that they filled. Furthermore, there is no proof on file that over 2 200 SABC staff actually passed matric.

“The SABC is just one example of many government and business entities that lack the adequate internal resources to recruit quality talent” says Kay Vittee, CEO of Quest Staffing Solutions, Africa’s leading staffing solutions company within the white-collar recruitment industry. “It’s situations like this that support the strong argument for outsourcing one’s recruitment process to an external service provider with the necessary expertise and experience.”

Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) refers to the process by which a company outsources part or all of its recruitment functions to an external service provider. This can include job postings, sourcing, screening, interview scheduling and logistics along with offer execution, system compliance and Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS) data entry. This process also allows for personnel information audits and talent acquisition forward planning.

“Outsourcing this function ensures that the correct personnel with the correct qualifications are in the correct positions to fulfil an organisation’s primary function – in the case of the SABC, providing radio and television programming that informs and educates the country’s citizens; a crucial responsibility, particularly in the run up to elections. It brings quality control and credibility to the recruitment process and personnel information management,” explainsVittee.

She continues, “RPO is a growing trend in South Africa and has been swiftly taken up internationally for its ability to improve a company's time to hire, increase the quality of the candidate pool, provide verifiable metrics, reduce costs and improve governmental compliance. Quest has been in the forefront of this growing trends in South Africa and have a substantial list of clients where the process has been successfully developed and managed.”

“Some of the most valuable services that can be outsourced include screening and shortlisting, performing vetting checks, conducting skills and job-specific assessments as well as carrying out background verifications. These ensure that only the best candidates are put forward for a position,” shares Vittee. “In addition, utilising a team of experienced, professional recruiters means that open positions can be filled more swiftly.”

She explains, “This is due to the commercial relationship between an RPO provider and a client which is likely to be based on specific performance targets. With remuneration dependent on the attainment of such targets, an RPO provider will concentrate its resources in the most effective way, whereas traditional internal recruitment teams are less likely to have such clearly defined performance targets.”

“Furthermore, an RPO provider can handle and assure adherence to all necessary compliance measures within the sourcing, recruiting, and hiring process.”

“Another element of RPO that is proving attractive to many businesses is that it can help satisfy seasonal or cyclical hiring needs by ramping staff up or down,” says Vittee. “Additionally, with cost reduction being the major driver behind business decisions, RPO providers can leverage economies of scale to diminish cost per hire. Companies may pay by transaction rather than by staff member, thus avoiding under-utilisation or forcing costly layoffs of recruitment staff when activity is low.”

“RPO is a viable option, not only for its ability to fill roles or positions with right people, but for making an immediate and measurable positive impact on the efficacy, efficiency, productivity and profitability of a business,” concludes Vittee.